336 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Fig. 2132. Parkut Tl-lip. 



and are grand. (6) Gesneriana. — This is 

 a most brilliant scarlet with blue centre, 

 very large and in many respects the most 

 g"orgeous of all tulips. (7) Sing-le Early. — 

 Of this class there are hundreds of varieties 

 and to it belong- most of the single varieties 

 now seen in cultivation. (8) Double Early. 

 — This class furnishes most of the double 

 tulips in cultivation. Some of them are al- 

 most as large and as fine as Peonies. (9) 

 Variegated Foliage. — -This class has many 

 varieties, both double and single. All have 

 beautifully variegated leaves and the flowers 

 are exquisite. This is a most charming as 

 well as a rare class. (10) Due Van Thol. — 

 Of this class there are about a dozen beauti- 

 ful varieties. They are dwarf of habit but 

 are very early bloomers, in this respect lead- 

 ing all other classes. They are used mostly 

 for forcing for winter blooming. 



Tulips are of the easiest culture and when 

 once secured they will last a life time, not 

 only giving regular, yearly bloom but also 

 rapidly increasing annually. They will 

 thrive in any kind of soil, even hard clay. 

 Although this is a fact they will give much 

 more satisfactory results if care is exercised 

 in the selection of their location. They 

 thrive best in a rich, deep, sandy soil. This 



should be well spaded up and made fine be- 

 fore the bulbs are set. They should be plant- 

 •ed four inches deep and from four inches to 

 six inches apart according to size of bulbs. 

 The bed should be slightly raised above the 

 surrounding soil so as to keep water from 

 settling about the bulbs and roots. 



In selecting a place for tulips a location 

 should be chosen where they may remain for 

 some years. Many people lift their bulbs 

 every year after they have ripened up in the 

 summer and replant them again in the fall. 

 This is a mistake, for besides the annual 

 labor in connection with lifting and replant- 

 ing they will not give as fine flowers or mul- 

 tiply as rapidly. They should be left in the 

 bed three or four years ; then lift them, 

 divide the clumps and replant. 



When a new bed of tulips is being planted 

 the work should be done early in the fall 

 if the best results are desired. Although 

 they may be planted on into November, if the 

 soil is not frozen and still produce flowers, 

 the results will not be satisfactory. The 

 bulb has to make the most of its roots in the 

 fall before the ground freezes up, for as soon 

 as the frost is out of the earth in the spring 

 the flower buds begin to appear. There is 

 then no time for the bulb to make roots but 

 instead the root must be feeding the flower 

 and producing a new bulb. The sooner 

 they are in the better as more time is given 

 for root growth and the more root the larger 

 and finer the bloom the following spring. 

 Early in September is the time when tulips 

 should be planted to give most satisfactory 

 results. 



Although tulips are perfectly hardy they 

 do much better if they have some protection 

 through the winter. . A covering of coarse 

 stable manure over the bed after it is pre- 

 pared in the fall, to the depth of four or five 

 inches is the proper thing. This will keep 

 the bulbs from being repeatedly thawed out 

 and frozen up should the winter be an open 

 one, an action that is verv trving on the 



